Around the NBA: Golden State launches amazing turnaround

Few of their games make it on national TV. Most of the time, they’re playing past midnight for fans in the East.

But the Golden State Warriors are once again one of the more entertaining teams in the NBA.

Led by point guard Baron Davis and swingman Stephen Jackson, the Warriors became the fastest team in league history to climb above .500 after an 0-6 start. They enter tonight’s game in Seattle at 8-7 after winning seven of eight games in a 12-day stretch.

Jackson’s return from a seven-game suspension at the start of the season is an obvious reason for the turnaround.

“He’s definitely a catalyst of it,” forward Al Harrington said after Thursday’s win over Houston.

The 6-foot-8 Jackson averages 21.6 points a game, and the Warriors are allowing 16 fewer points per game since his return. His versatility on both ends pulls together a quick, athletic team that creates mismatch problems. See last year’s playoff upset of Dallas. But Jackson can’t receive all the credit.

Davis is playing at a high level, averaging 24.2 points, 8.5 assists and 5.3 rebounds. He just has to stay healthy. So does Monta Ellis. The lightning quick, 6-3 guard averages 16.3 points per game. During the last four games, he’s averaging 25.5 points on 57.1 percent shooting.

M-V-P, M-V-P

Davis, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James each heard chants of “M-V-P ... M-V-P” from their home crowds this week, and they are playing at that level through the first month.

But Orlando forward Dwight Howard has been the most physically dominating player in leading the Magic to an impressive start.

Howard went for a career-high 39 points Wednesday in a 110-94 win at Seattle to go with 16 rebounds and five blocks. It was his 14th double-double and third time he scored 30 or more in a six-game stretch. He averages 23.5 points and 14.5 rebounds, shooting 61.2 percent from the field.

“The way Dwight was playing, they didn’t have an answer for him,” Orlando Head Coach Stan Van Gundy told media after the Seattle game. “One guy couldn’t stop him, two guys couldn’t stop him, so they put everybody on him.”

“Point blank, he is the most dominant player in this game right now,” Seattle rookie Kevin Durant said.

Embarrassed Knicks

Charles Barkley called them the Washington Generals. The rest of us might think of them as the franchise formerly known as the New York Knicks.

The Knicks wandered through another game Thursday and took a 45-point beating, 104-59, in Boston for their lack of effort. New York hadn’t lost this bad since 1980. Only a Nate Robinson halfcourt heave at the buzzer prevented the Knicks from their fewest points of the shot-clock era.

“It was a game on national television, and I thought every player came to the arena with the idea of ‘I’m gonna have a good game’ as opposed to the Knicks (are) gonna have a good game,” Knicks Head Coach Isiah Thomas said. “I thought every single player was thinking about himself as opposed to thinking about the team.”

Say what?

The loss came after Knicks forward Quentin Richardson offered up these views on Boston to The Bergen Record:

“They’re not that deep of a team, and after (the Big Three), there’s a significant drop-off,” he said. “We’re not in awe of them. They ain’t won no championships.”

For the record: Boston’s “Big Three” — Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce — scored 50 points, not even an average night for them. Subs Eddie House (15 points) and Glen “Big Baby” Davis (13) each scored more than any Knick.

Big Baby growing up

Davis, a rookie out of LSU, entered the weekend playing his best basketball. He scored a then career-high 8 points in just six minutes in Cleveland on Tuesday, making all three of his shots from the floor. The 6-foot-9, 289-pound forward came back to make 4-of-6 shots vs. the Knicks and grabbed six rebounds.

24-second clock

- Steve Francis, playing for just the fourth time in 16 games, played a big role Wednesday in Houston’s 100-94 win at Phoenix. The former All-Star made a tough layup and a big steal in the final 30 seconds

- Give Golden State fans credit. While most NBA fans must be prodded into cheering by video scoreboards, a screaming PA announcer or Guns N’ Roses power chords, Warrior fans actually did it on their own Monday. They broke out a “Let’s Go Warriors” on their own late in a win over Phoenix that snapped the Suns’ eight-game winning streak.

- The Lakers actually might get rewarded for not trading young center Andrew Bynum. He continues to show signs of being an impact player inside, averaging a double-double. Also, backup guard Jordan Farmar is providing tremendous energy and solid shooting off the Lakers bench.

- The Bucks need to find consistency. A week after beating the Cavs, Lakers and Mavericks, they lost to the Hawks and 76ers. “If we’d win these games, we’d be in a great position, but obviously we’re taking things for granted,” Andrew Bogut told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.